Transmission won’t separate from engine block

[Jason in DLH]

Oh man...I feel your pain and frustration when things don’t go the way they should.

Could you try wedging a block of wood in front of the tranny somewhere and Jack the rear of tranny up bit by bit while you heat the mating surface up? I’d be afraid if it breaks free suddenly with a lot of pressure on the tranny though.

Just throwing some crazy ideas out there.

Let us know how you get it undone. Good luck!

 

[Jason in DLH]

Oh good... I’m not the only one who thought that. I must not be too crazy after all!

 

[exp500]

I think there is still a bolt in it, last time I saw the results of it wont come out was a broken case, even with a bolt in it you can get a scraper then a pry bar in the gap. If case is corroded spray parting line with PB Blaster or something to get the pins wet. Good Luck!

 

[MrBlack247]

Hope this helps.

 

[randeez]

since this doesnt appear resolved, i gotta ask - you did remove the studs from the sides right? a few of them have a smaller nut on them to hold brackets and trans dip stick, after removing that smaller nut you have to remove the entire stud

if you pull the transmission crossmember, youll need to support the engine or it will want to lean down prob 20-25 degrees

 

[silky28]

Alright everyone...it’s out!!!!!!!!

No, there was no bolt left in it, nor was the torque converter still bolted in. It really was just fused together with the block.

In the end I used a combination of

1) ratchet straps from back of transmission to fuel tank crossmember for constant pressure

2) heat

3) air chisel

4) pry bars and hammer

It was really the air chisel that got it though. I found a spot bottom driver side of bell housing that looked good and hit it with. After a few minutes of moving chisel around I started to see a gap between block and tranny. The chisel did a bit of damage to the bell housing but really nothing Tory about

 

[PatDTN]

I'm going to be attacking this on my '09 Tahoe soon. 6L80 trans. I'm wondering if those pins can be driven through from the visible holes? If not can you soak them with PB Blaster that way?

Like I said, I'm fixin to learn as I do a combination AFM Delete and 6.2 swap for my injured 5.3.

 

[Larryjb]

Wow! I never heard about the casings being fused like that, although I guess it's possible. It happened to you.

I had a little trouble getting mine off, but it was due to a couple of factors. First, the transmission jack I was using has a tilt function, but the adjustment was so sloppy that it wouldn't keep the transmission level as it came off. As a result, it was binding on the two guide pins. Remember, the transmission is front heavy. If I hadn't had the transmission strapped to the jack, it would have slide right off the jack!

When it comes time to reinstall the transmission, I found that a couple of old starter motor mounting bolts were the perfect size to insert through from the front of the engine side were really helpful. I'd lift the transmission up until I could get one bolt started, then I'd raise or lower the transmission until the second bolt on the other side would go on. At that point I was able to wiggle and shove the transmission into place and secure the other bolts, and replace the two long starter bolts with the proper ones at the end.

 

[Rob Cox]

Here is a trick I learned, works on auto or manual transmissions. Buy two six inch bolts that will thread into your block or bell housing, cut off the heads and make a slot in the ends. Thread them into the bottom holes ,bottom out one and let the other stick out about one quarter inch. Align your transmission with the one sticking out, rock it up until the other bolt aligns and push. Install the remaining bolts loosely then use a screw driver to remove the bolts.